On the evening before his fashion show, Christian Siriano can typically be found “eating really bad junk food” and putting final touches on new looks before “packing the collection the night before the show at 2 a.m.”
But this NYFW, the designer hosted a dinner on Wednesday night alongside chefs Michael and Bryan Voltaggio at The Shed in Hudson Yards, in partnership with Citi Strata Elite and Mastercard.
“I’m really into these experimental moments,” Siriano told WWD. “That’s what the customer is looking for right now. Everyone wants something a bit more exciting than shopping on the rack. I’ve done different things like this over the years. I love the idea that [this dinner is based] around food and we get to curate based on the city. It’s also cool to dig into my archives that are different than what I’ll show the next day.
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“I think most customers now are really savvy. They want to know a bit more about what they’re purchasing or what they’re getting involved in — or what’s the best restaurant they want to go to and why they love that chef. All of those things are really important in our world now.”
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He said the concept was intriguing and “visually fabulous” — eating dinner and couture walking around — as it was reminiscent of old-world theater dinner parties.
For cocktail hour, guests sipped and snacked on light bites while taking a look at the BTS of Siriano’s creative process and inspirations. The designer also did a meet-and-greet with attendees. The four-course dinner menu saw the brother chefs serve the meal with accompanying wine pairings, all inspired by the cities notable to Siriano: New York, Milan and Paris — the duo also worked to interpret the cities in new ways that also reflected the designer’s vision.
Throughout the evening’s courses, Siriano held a mini fashion show, complete with six of the archival looks that embody the three cities and spoke about their significance to him. The dinner venue also had notable archival pieces throughout the space.
“We took a look at the three cities of New York, Milan and Paris,” Siriano continued. “I picked pieces from my collection within my archives that we’ve shown in Paris, Milan and New York. And also what I think women would want to be or want to look like — and obviously that’s very food-driven because every city has a distinct cuisine. Every city does have such a style. When you do a show or collection, you don’t actually get to talk about the clothes ever. I never get to explain what this dress means or where it’s from or what inspired it, so this is a really nice way to do that for people.”
As someone who is a lover of food, Siriano said that he can always be spotted out and about trying new restaurants, particularly Asian food and steakhouses — some of his favorite New York hot spots to eat during fashion week are Cafe Mulberry, The Odeon, Le B. and Pastis.
“I love going to dinner. My favorite thing is throwing dinner parties with friends; it’s the one time we get to actually talk and hang out. I’m so busy and my friends are all busy; I have a lot of actress friends who are filming movies, so it’s the only time when we can go to dinner and have a date.”
As for what to expect from his show on Thursday evening? The designer hinted that it’s inspired by old French folktale fairy tales from the late 1800s, which have become a popular era to draw from for the modern Provençal woman.
This is the first in a series of dinners Citi and Mastercard are hosting throughout the fall — spanning the worlds of fashion, art and motorsport, with two more dinners slated to happen during the Austin Grand Prix and Miami Art Basel.